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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 1:20 pm
Ok so here is what I think I've pieced together. You've been atheist for your own reason. You have kept this quite because of the views of your wife and community. You feel some level of resentment for not being able to have the experience of freedom in your early 20s. Your no longer attracted to your wife. You don't want to hurt her but want to divorce and in the process expose your lack of faith. Did I capture this correctly?
If so your going through what is called the 7 year itch. Your marriage has most likely become routine including sexually. So your thinking of all the things you want to do that she's holding you back from. Throw in you've been hiding a part of yourself from her adding to that trapped feeling. I went through something similar in my marriage. Before you explore divorce though I'd suggest trying to work it out. First come clean on your beliefs. As long as your respectful and don't judge her maintaining her faith hopefully she'll respond well. If not maybe divorce is the right step. Once you have that openness in your relationship try and break the routines. What works for my wife and I is travel. We have a bucket of locations we want to go to. Every January first we randomly draw one out and plan a vacation that year to that location. This is just an example but find new adventures you can share and I think you'll find that lost passion.
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 2:17 pm
I want to know what smoking weed and gambling have to do with being an atheist specifically. I myself have never done the former, while engaging in the latter maybe a handful of times in my adult life. On the other hand, I know people who profess to be xtian who do those things pretty regularly, as well as lying, stealing, cheating on their partners...
Religiosity or lack thereof wouldn't seem to be a particular factor. Except inasmuch as the xtian can pretend that their behaviour is forgivable, perhaps.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 3:27 pm
Rastafaris anyone?
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 3:37 pm
(May 13, 2015 at 11:09 pm)nicanica123 Wrote: Hey all. Quick question, I can honestly say that one reason why I don't want to be a god fearing person anymore is that I just want to live life how I want to live it. I am married. I love my wife, but we were way young when we got married. If I was an absolute atheist, whatever that means, I would definitely come clean to her and probably get a divorce. Is this a bad driving force?
You seem to have some major misconceptions on what atheism is.
Try this.
Belief is the psychological state in which one accepts a premise or proposition is true.
If you currently believe that at least one god exists (accept the premise to be true), you are a theist. Any thing else is atheism.
Do you currently accept the premise that a god exists? If you answer anything else besides 'yes', you are an atheist.
You seem to want to attach a lot of baggage to atheism that does not belong.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 3:44 pm
Right. "Don't know" and "Not sure" means atheism, whether or not you call it that.
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 4:18 pm
(This post was last modified: May 14, 2015 at 4:19 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
Yes, atheism has some psychological benefits that often go unrecognized. The newly converted atheist usually feels relief from the burden of unnecessary guilt. They also usually experience the exhilaration of setting their own goals and values apart from externally imposed expectations. You may continue adhering to the norms of your culture, and many do, but you really don’t have to except to the extent that you can avoid civil penalties and undesirable consequences. If you really are an atheist, you alone decide if ethics are something of value to you. Or not. Nobody can tell you you’re wrong either way.
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 4:38 pm
I'm reminded of that quote along the lines of "Without a god, we are free to rape and murder all we want. And I do rape and murder all I want. It just so happens that the amount I want is zero."
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 4:39 pm
Penn Jillette!
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 4:42 pm
That's the one. I kept thinking it was Ricky Gervais.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: Opinions on my drive to be an atheist
May 14, 2015 at 4:43 pm
(This post was last modified: May 14, 2015 at 4:54 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
LOL @ the above. Plenty of people can and will tell you..that you are wrong, regardless of whether you believe in fairies. Take a look at the thread..lol. If you're not into your wife you atre doing no-one...not yourself, not her, and certainly not some god...a favor by maintaining that fiction. You say you love her, just not in "the husband way" - fine... You want her to be happy, I assume....do you think that this happiness is going to materialize -with you-?
I'm not sure what atheism has to do with it at all. Suppose you were a thumping believer that absolutely was not motivated by entirely selfish thoughts...lol....then do the wrong thing to god in order to do the right thing by her? God won't punish her...for you leaving..surely, whilst staying with her "because god" is a punishment......to her (by you, btw).
Show a little bit of that moral fiber by doing right by somebody, regardless of how uncomfortable it might make you, ffs.......
-TLDR Version: Grab your nuts bro.-
@ cocunningham, that's awesome...the vacation bit.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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